Team
CV
Sybille Münch is an associate professor and teaches political science at the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Hildesheim. In October 2024, she assumed the interim leadership of the ZBI from Viola Georgi, who had shaped the center for many years.
Since 2004, Sybille has been working on migration and integration policy within the multi-level system: initially as a scientific consultant in the BMBF project "Immigrants in the City," later as a doctoral fellow with the Leibniz Association, focusing on housing policy and ethnic segregation.
Sybille's professional biography reflects the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary diversity under the ZBI’s umbrella. In addition to leading the area of "Migration and Integration" at the Institute of Social Work and Social Pedagogy, and serving as a member of the advisory board for the journal *Migration and Social Work*, she has been involved in DFG projects in the field of urban studies. She later held a junior professorship in "Theory of Public Policy" at Leuphana University, where she led projects on building trust among refugee parents in early childhood education, precarious housing conditions in a European comparison, and police perceptions of refugees in German cities.
Contact
apl. Professorin Dr. Sybille Münch
Head of the Center for Diversity, Democracy and Inclusion in Education
Universitätsplatz 1, 31141 Hildesheim
HC.F.3.14
T: +49-5121-88310706
CV
Responsibilities at the ZBI
- Coordination of the restructuring process and center activities
Research Interests
- Migration and integration policy
- Migration policy discourses
- European and international politics, with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe
- Social science research methods, including Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Text-as-Data approaches
Current Research Project
Beyond Security and Economic Narratives: Acknowledging Complexity in Political and Media Discourse on Migration
This project explores the representation of complexity in migration policy debates, focusing on the conditions under which complex issues are acknowledged and addressed in political decision-making processes. Drawing on Scholten’s (2020) work on the complexity of migration policy-making, the study seeks to decenter traditional migration studies by considering the broad range of factors that influence political decision-making. Recent research revealed that, in democratic contexts, policies like labor migration are not solely shaped by economic demands but are contingent upon both long-standing macro-structural factors such as the welfare state, voting systems, labor markets, and industrial relations, including the power of trade unions, and time-variant influences like the strength of anti-immigration actors, international policy diffusion, or the domestic migration policy mix. Applying this insight to further migration areas, the project asks: How do political actors either acknowledge or obscure the intricate nature of migration in their deliberations? How is complexity included in the justification of political decisions? To answer these questions, the study employs a quantitative text analysis of parliamentary debates within the European Union and selected member states, as well as newspaper reporting over the past 30 years. This analysis will reveal patterns in how migration-related complexities are framed and addressed, contributing to understanding how and when policy-making incorporates the multifaceted nature of migration issues. By decentering the analysis of migration policy, this paper highlights the importance of recognizing and integrating diverse factors in migration governance, moving beyond simplistic economic or security-driven narratives.
Dissertation
The Interplay of Drivers in Migration Policy. A Configurational Study on the Determinants of Immigration Policy for Workers in Low-Skilled Jobs
This study examines the determinants of immigration policy concerning labor migration to low-skilled occupations (LILSO) in democratic states, focusing on influences beyond purely economic considerations. The research is guided by two central questions: (1) Under what conditions do democratic governments adopt less restrictive policies for LILSO, aside from economic incentives? (2) What institutional and historical factors contribute to liberalization in LILSO entry and integration policies? To answer these questions, the study applies a configurational approach, utilizing Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to analyze the interaction of economic, political, and historical conditions influencing policy outcomes.
Previous Positions
2023 - 2024: Europa Universität Flensburg, Department of Political Science, Project: Paradoxes of EU Freedom of Movement
2019 - 2024: Europa Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Chair of European and International Politics, Research Fellow & Ph.D. Candidate
2019 - 2023: Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Ph.D. Fellow
Contact
Anna-Christine Görg
Research Assistant
Universitätsplatz 1, 31141 Hildesheim
HC.F.3.11
T: +49-5121-88310780
Contact
Miriam Kühne
Secretariat
Universitätsplatz 1, 31141 Hildesheim
T: +49-5121-88310700
CV
Danielle Kasparick heads the Research and Transfer Office for Migration Policy at the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Hildesheim. The office aims to foster exchange between academia and practice in the field of migration policy.
Previously, Danielle Kasparick worked as a research associate at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Münster. Most recently, she was involved in a research project on cooperation between civil society and municipalities in the integration of refugees. At the same time, she pursued her PhD on housing and urban development in growing cities, after studying International Migration and Intercultural Relations (M.A.) and European Studies (B.A.) at the University of Osnabrück.
Research Interests:
- Migration, flight, and asylum
- Integration policy
- Social participation
- Multilevel governance
- Qualitative research
Contact
Dr. Danielle Kasparick
Research Associate & Head of the Migration Policy Research and Transfer Centre at the Institute of Social Sciences
Universitätsplatz 1, 31141 Hildesheim
T: +49-5121-88310776